TDS Return Filing & Payment Due Dates for FY 2025-26

The TDS payment due date is generally the 7th of the following month, while the TDS return filing due date falls on the last day of the month after the relevant quarter ends. Staying updated on TDS payment and return due dates is essential for every deductor to avoid interest, penalties, and compliance issues.

What is TDS?

TDS stands for Tax Deducted at Source. In TDS mechanism, tax is paid as soon as income is earned. The person responsible for paying us the amount directly deducts TDS and pays it to the government. Any excess TDS deducted, can be claimed as a refund at the time of filing ITR.

TDS Return Due Date

TDS returns due date for FY 2025-26 are as follows:

In short, due date for filing TDS returns is the last date of the next month of the quarter. However, for the last quarter (Jan- Mar), the due date is 31st May of the next financial year.

Due Date for TDS Payment

The dates for depositing TDS amount for the Financial Year 2025-26  is shown in the below table-

*For the government deductors, making the TDS via book entry (Treasury Challan) should be deposited on the same day of deduction, whereas for March month by 7th of April.

Upcoming TDS Due Dates - FY 2025-26

The following are the TDS payment due dates for the upcoming months in FY 2025-26

The following are the due dates for TDS return filing for the upcoming quarters of FY 2025-26.

Late Filing Fee (Sec 234E)

• Under Section 234E, a fee of Rs. 200 for every day would be charged for late furnishing of TDS/TCS statements from the due date of furnishing of the statements till the date of furnishing of the statements. 
• The total amount of the fee cannot exceed the total amount of TDS or TCS.

Illustration

Say that you have deducted TDS of Rs 5000 on 13th May 2025 and you file the return for Q1 on 17th November 2025 instead of the due date 31st July 2025.

The delay is 109 days counting from 1st August 2025 to 17th November 2025.

Then the calculation comes out to Rs 200 x 109 days = Rs 21,800, but since this amount is greater than TDS Rs. 5,000, you will have to pay only Rs. 5,000 as the late filing fee.

In addition to this, you also have to pay interest for delay in deposit of TDS which is covered in the next section.

Penalty (Sec 271H)

• Person who fails to file the TDS/TCS statement within the due date may have to pay a penalty ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh. 
• The penalty under this section is in addition to the late filing fee u/s 234E. 
• This section will also cover the cases of incorrect filing of TDS returns.

No penalty under section 271H will be levied in case of delay in filing the TDS/TCS return if the following conditions are satisfied:

• The tax deducted/collected at source is paid to the credit of the Government.
• Late filing fees and interest (if any) is paid to the credit of the Government.
• The TDS/TCS return is filed before the expiry of a period of one year from the due date specified on this behalf.

Interest on Late Deposit of TDS

Note: 

1. The above interest should be paid before filing of TDS return.
2. The interest is to be calculated on a monthly basis and not on the number of days i.e. part of a month is considered as a full month.

Under Section 201(1A), in case of late deposit of TDS after deduction, you have to pay interest. Interest is calculated at the rate of 1.5% per month from the date on which TDS was deducted to the actual date of deposit. 

Prosecution proceedings u/s 276B

As per section 276B of the Income Tax Act, 1961, any TDS not remitted to the credit of Central Government within TDS return due date will attract prosecution proceedings, leading to an imprisonment from three months to seven years, and fine.

Final Word

It is always advisable to adhere to due dates and comply with the necessary statutory requirements accordingly. Non compliance may lead to adverse consequences, sometimes might even lead to severe penalty and imprisonments